A discussion of the role of assessment in teaching focuses on the need to improve assessment in areas other than academic achievement, including the affective results of teacher behavior, student self-evaluation, and diagnosis of learning difficulties. The need for more explicit language for reporting achievement is also noted. (MSE)

Compared 719 first-, second-, third-grade students enrolled in partial-immersion (PI) programs in Japanese, Spanish, or French to 3 comparison groups. Outcome measures used were a mathematics test, Metropolitan Achievement Test in Reading, and Student Oral Proficiency Rating. PI students scored at least as well as, and to some extent better than,…

The Association of American Medical Colleges' conference on the use of standardized patients in the teaching and evaluation of clinical medical skills is summarized, including perspectives on issues such as curriculum design, administrative concerns, faculty indifference or resistance, and logistical and financial feasibility. (MSE)

Discusses the reforms made in the fall of 1990 in the English department at the Ecole Hautes Etudes Commerciales (Paris, France), which were based on the basis of a combination of literature-culture and second- and foreign-language acquisition pedagogical biases. (four references) (VWL)

This study presents evidence for the psychological reality of the Subset Principle as a determinant of the acquisition of Governing Category Parameter settings for English anaphors and pronominals. Prelingual deafness was used as a natural experiment in the acquisition of English in the presence of variably impaired access to English language…

In this study an artificial intelligence assessment tool used disease-by-feature frequency estimates to create disease prototypes for nine common causes of acute chest pain. The tool then used each subject's prototypes and a pattern-recognition-based decision-making mechanism to diagnose 18 myocardial infarction cases. (MLW)

Describes research and development work done by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) for "Sesame Street." Cooperation between producers and researchers is discussed; three mechanisms used to explore new topics and learn more about preschool children are explained; and a case study is presented of how a new geography curriculum was…

Discusses the politics of higher education as it relates to the upward mobility of African Americans in U.S. society. It discusses higher education's role in reducing the endemic problems confronting blacks and how blacks can pursue their educational goals despite the politics in higher education. (GLR)

With respect to the design of cooperative systems, issues related to the fundamental communication channels, sociotechnical factors, and task characteristics associated with collaborative work situations are reviewed. Research strategies incorporating theory-motivated design, ethnographic methods, and controlled testing methods are discussed as a…

Testing and assessment in English-for-Academic-purposes (EAP) contexts has traditionally been carried out as a needs analysis of learners or a content analysis of courses. This article reassesses this approach to the development and validation of EAP tests on the basis of a theoretical model and recent research into content specificity. (VWL)

Tests experimentally whether stress placement in polysyllabic words differs in Singapore English (SE) and British English (BE), or whether acoustic correlates of stress differ in the two English varieties. Results suggest word-final stress in SE is not result of lexical stress placement, but combination of lengthening of final-syllable words in…

Examines grammaticality judgments on dative constructions among Korean, Japanese, and Chinese learners of English by replicating Ellis (1991). Focus is on predicting the learners' judgments on the grounds of lexical functional grammar (LFG). Examines six predictions derived mainly from LFG. (Author/VWL)

Conducted a pilot study with learners of Spanish who had completed a 25-week basic language training at the Defense Language Institute's Foreign Language Center. Compared the listening and reading proficiency of 10 officers with 44 enlisted personnel, using t-tests and analysis of variance (with the Defense Language Proficiency Test as a…

Examines the problems and potential of the Concord School of Law, an online law school venture of Kaplan Educational Centers, a rapidly growing education company involved in academic coaching, assessment, and training programs for K-6 through graduate school; professional training, recruitment, and licensing examinations; publishing; and distance…

Twelve African American and 12 Caucasian preschool children were administered items from the Preschool Language Assessment Instrument under standard conditions and in thematic interactions. The African American group earned significantly higher test scores when items were administered in the thematic mode, with major score increases on the more…